Articles
Daily articles carefully curated by the All About Jazz staff. Read our popular and future articles.
Steve Dawson: Finding the Secret of a Song
It might be that singer/songwriter Steve Dawson was born in California and raised in Idaho, but he has become a son of the city he calls home: jny: Chicago. He is teaching at the acclaimed Old Town School of Folk Music and while preparing others for a life in music, he has also followed his own musical path as a part of the band, Dolly Varden, and not least as a solo artist. He has released a string of noteworthy ...
read moreDionne Warwick: Déjà Vu: The Arista Recordings (1979-1994)
Every artist, even great ones, experiences peaks and valleys. When Dionne Warwick signed with Arista Records in 1979, she had nothing to prove, but her glory also seemed like a thing of the past. She was already a part of pop history with an unparalleled string of hits penned by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. In fact, when she signed with Warner Brothers in 1971, the plan was that history would continue and she would still be singing hits by ...
read moreJohn Prine: 1946 - 2020
John Prine had the uncanny ability to yell without raising his voice. He could seamlessly express anger with a wry smile and chuckle. The force of his conviction was unmistakable, making an impression akin to a dope-slap the recipient takes a day to realize was delivered. In the song most covered by other artists (the mark of a true songwriter) and the one best illustrating this, Prine relays a tear stain from his childhood, visiting his grandfather in Paradise, Kentucky: ...
read moreThe Westerlies: Wherein Lies the Good
The dynamic and inventive brass quartet The Westerlies explores an eclectic array of pieces on its third release, the mesmerizing Wherein Lies the Good. Consisting of four jazz-leaning horn players, the ensemble, in addition to interpreting delightful originals, delves into the modern classical, art-rock and folk repertoires. The album opens with trombonist Andy Clausen's mellifluous “Robert Henry." A hypnotic and effervescent tune that Clausen wrote for his nephew, it flows from one member to another with shimmering lines ...
read moreBlue Note Review 2: Spirit & Time and More
Lots of cool features this week. First, Side 2 of the new-music LP from 2nd limited-edition Blue Note Review box with drummers Tony Allen and Chris Dave reimagining Tony Williams compositions. Then, a deep dive into the Savoy vaults from 1947 with recreations of 78s by Charlie Parker, Fats Navarro and Dexter Gordon. Celebrating Sonny Rollins with 2 more selections from Monk's Brilliant Corners release on Riverside and the 2020 centennial of Carmen McRae with tracks from her stupendous session, ...
read moreMoonMot: Going Down The Well
Six musicians from the UK and Switzerland, with a strong background in improvisation and a talent for mixing acoustic and electronic instrumentation, creating tunes which move from the gentle, Rhodes-led, intro to “35 Years" and the bass-sax interplay which opens “Threnody Of The English Polity" to the raucous baritone sax of the title track—that is MoonMot on Going Down The Well. The sextet formed in 2017 when saxophonists Dee Byrne (Entropi, Deemer) and Cath Roberts (Sloth Racket, Favourite ...
read moreSchapiro 17: New Shoes: Kind of Blue at 60
2019 marked the sixtieth anniversary of the Miles Davis sextet's acclaimed album, Kind of Blue (Columbia). While the tributes didn't exactly pour in, New York-based composer / arranger Jon Schapiro took it upon himself not only to revisit that classic session but to re-orchestrate it for a large ensemble (the Schapiro 17) and flesh it out with half a dozen compositions of his own and another by pianist Roberta Piket. In keeping with the spirit of the occasion, all of ...
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